AMERICAN Firearms Manufacturers

[wideym]

If American gun manufactures would give the American pulblic the guns they want, we wouldn't need to by guns from out of country factory owners.

Colt would corner the market on ARs if they would sell civilan M4s with the evil features at police dept prices or start making snakeguns again.

Every shooter I know would love to have a Colt AR, but will not spend a grand for a basic M4.

 

[modifiedbrowning]

My fault for not articulating myself correctly. So, is the PPK an American gun or a German gun?

The PPK and PPK/S are manufactured by S&W in Houlton, ME. So, technically it is an American gun, licensed from a german design.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

The Whole Gun?

There are a number of "manufacturers" who make just the receiver, or who have the receivers made for them, and then buy their barrels from Acme Barrel Works, finally assembling the whole thing with their name/serial number on it.

Tactical Customs does something like this. They make the AR15 receiver, then add all the other stuff from other places.

Yes, this makes them a manufacturer, 'cuz they do actually produce a complete weapon, but . . .

How many companies still make the whole gun? Soup to nuts? Receiver, barrel, sights, magazine (if any), i.e. all the major components?

I can understand if you farm out the springs and screws and other fiddly bits, but who still makes all the major components themselves?

Ruger, for example, makes their own barrels for some or all of their guns.

Anyone know this?

 

[00-Guy]

AG:

Try almost all of your high end trap gun makers such as Ljutic, Bowen, Alfermann and Seitz. I am most familiar with Ljutic and except for the screws everything else is made by them at their factory. This also includes the stock work.

 

[Keith Wheeler]

Tactical Customs does something like this. They make the AR15 receiver, then add all the other stuff from other places.

Do they even "make" the receiver, or do the just do the finish machining on the same forged blanks everyone else uses?

Here's the reality of the modern world. Companies are no longer "vertically integrated". The mantra is "focus on your core competencies". It sometimes means that companies never touch their product. I've got clients like that, we design their hardware (I'm in electronics R&D), manufacture the product, and drop ship it to the end user. It works because the client is the expert "in the market". We're experts in "designing and building electronics". It's the concept of "economies of scope". Think about it, how long have numerous "world class" car companies used Bosch injection or ZF transmissions?

Making springs is different from making barrels. And all of that is different from understanding a market and marketing a brand. In some well known firms, it is estimated that the brand name is up to half of the firm's value. Amazing. But then folks said that here -- "think how many people would by a Colt AR if they'd just sell us what we want at a fair price". Yep, and folks would do that even though the aluminum is imported, somebody else smelted it, somebody else did the receiver forging, perhaps somebody else made the barrel, and then the anodizing was outsourced because of environmental regs, and...and....but wow, that's one great Colt AR!

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Making the Receiver

Do they even "make" the receiver, or do the just do the finish machining on the same forged blanks everyone else uses?

Well, according to them, they do make the receiver. Although I suspect they're starting with blanks, as you suggest.

According to people who've been to their plant, they have a full-blown machine shop, so that's not far fetched.

They do some other bits of their own, but they buy their uppers and such.

I get what you're saying, and I don't have a beef with that.

I was just wondering who's left that has the depth to do the whole thing.

 

[Keith Wheeler]

I was just wondering who's left that has the depth to do the whole thing.

Yeah, me too. On the one hand, as an MBA, I can spew all that globalization economies of scale core competency business all day long, and yes, it makes sense according to generally accepted economics theory...but on the other hand I'm a good old fashioned hands-on American engineer, and that part of me thinks we've sold our collective soul to be able to buy cheap garbage in a sad attempt to "improve our lifestyles".

What's really sad is that if it weren't for the "government subsidy" of the needs for M-16 bits paying the NRE on a lot of tooling and development, we wouldn't even have the Tactical Customs and Rock rivers.

 

[RPCVYemen]

I feel as ambivalent about the situation as Keith.

Sunday, if the prices are right, I will be buying an American interpretation of a Czechoslovakian design manufactured in Turkey.

Like a lot of people, I am a little nervous about their being an American core competency - other than consuming.

Evil

 

[Evenflo76]

What about Charles Daly/KBI ?

 

[Seancass]

a good magazine told me yesterday that all of Springfields lower end 1911's are not US made. belgium or something? only the EMP, and their top end 1911's are actually made and assembled in the USA. that was really disapointing to learn. that was going to be my next gun. now i'll have to keep looking.